Once I got the great news that I could do my own artwork, I actually had to pull it off. It took about a week to do the rough draft and get it approved and another two weeks to do the final piece of 8 1/2 x 11 spec art. Gotta love the internet though. I get to keep the original safe and sound by scanning and emailing it for posting on the website. I was going to publish it on this post, so you could see it, but I don't want to do anything to jinx my chances, so you'll have to go to the contest site to see it.
I decided to do it with oil pastels instead of my trusty pencil colors because I wanted the colors to be more vibrant, since it's for a children's book. My main challenge was to create a personality for a character who has no face, so that the reader can identify with what he's feeling. After all, it's a PICTURE book. I think it turned out rather well.
I'll be sending an email to everyone I have addresses for personally asking them to vote and send the message on to others, but if you're coming to this blog by other means, please go to http://www.abcbookcompetition.org/ and vote for A Pumpkin Named Jack by Beth Cooper between September 16 and 30. If I win, I will receive a publishing contract and 1000 books to sell on my own.
According to The Book Connection, who sponsors this nationwide contest, only three out of 12,000 manuscripts that are sent to publishing companies ever gets published. It would be my very first published book and a great start to a writing/illustrating career. Then, I'll have to design and produce 16-18 double-page spreads for the rest of the book by May 08. I'm looking forward to that challenge!
